tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7200230221784101604.comments2014-02-17T06:39:55.362-08:00Cheap And Simple: Less fancy, more good.Cybelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16010169619832803037noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7200230221784101604.post-91899009782527626062014-02-17T06:39:55.362-08:002014-02-17T06:39:55.362-08:00I had not thought about lack of access to a kitche...I had not thought about lack of access to a kitchen. That makes a difference, maybe. But really, I'm not talking about taxing frozen burritos, ramen noodles or Lunchables, even though I think most people can do better most of the time. I really AM talking about soda, cheezy poufs, snack cakes and so on. Things that would never qualify as WIC items, that actually have negative nutritive value. But where to draw the line between 'food' and 'luxury edibles'? It is tricky. I think it's a conversation worth continuing in the US, if only to get people to begin to admit to themselves that much of what they're putting in their mouths is horrible for their health. It took awhile with cigarettes. I don't expect this to be instant, either. <br />Cybelehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16010169619832803037noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7200230221784101604.post-24335502506162856812014-02-16T23:30:39.928-08:002014-02-16T23:30:39.928-08:00I'm the same anonymous as before. I wasn't...I'm the same anonymous as before. I wasn't commenting on marshmallows and the like. I was commenting on prepared foods that are some sort of meal. The two big things that I have a problem with the idea of a tax for that are 1) some people are not able to prepare their own meals due to disabilities (either regularly or occasionally) and those people are more likely to be poor, and 2) in the past year, I have been poor and also not had access to a kitchen while being poor. I figured out how to get food on less than a dollar each day, but as you can guess from those conditions, it wasn't healthy, and it wasn't very much. And some people have access to some cooking supplies, but they might only have a hot plate, or a kettle. All of these things are symptomatic of larger societal issues, but I think a tax on "prepared food" is too broad. If you want to tax things like marshmallows, fine, but when you start raising taxes on unhealthy but cheap meal-type food without other plans in place, it hurts the people who need the cheap food the most.<br /><br />One thing that I worked on, that was very good, was, shortly before I lost kitchen access but was already in that super poor state, I volunteered at a student-run pop-up shop that bought ethically sourced food in bulk and sold it for just enough to keep restocking. There were some things that had the same potential preparation problems, but there were also lots of snacks and potential ingredients that didn't need to be cooked. Also, in exchange for volunteering, I got a "coupon" for free food, which, to be honest, was why I started.<br /><br />And, I see where you're going with taxes in terms of government regulation in order to have healthy food available, but I feel like there needs to be stronger action taken, action that doesn't depend on companies who don't care about health paying attention to which taxes their customers are upset about. If you're going to tax anyone, those companies can afford it. But I think what I would most like to see is a list of foods that are required in every grocery store, and an effort made to get more grocery stores, stores that are *specifically* grocery stores put in food deserts.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7200230221784101604.post-58030303912059106192014-02-07T08:20:21.102-08:002014-02-07T08:20:21.102-08:00I will keep that in mind. In the meantime, I have ...I will keep that in mind. In the meantime, I have discovered (if not actually learned to use) Google spreadsheets. Thank you for your feedback!Cybelehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16010169619832803037noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7200230221784101604.post-71722380800703293402013-04-28T18:34:33.444-07:002013-04-28T18:34:33.444-07:00NO - I DON'T agree (and yes, I read it all) ke...NO - I DON'T agree (and yes, I read it all) keep the price shopping & the recipies & the stories all together. I'd rather read one LONG entry than 5 short entries. <br />Yes, the price things don't quite line up & that would be a nice thing to see fixed. If you can not get a spreadsheet, just use periods to separate the columns.<br />Item Name ..... $x.xx ..... $x.xx ..... see. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15145703170196396206noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7200230221784101604.post-67597081454677993762013-04-04T09:00:22.082-07:002013-04-04T09:00:22.082-07:00The problem with taxing prepared meals is that it ...The problem with taxing prepared meals is that it will hurt lower-income people. Preparing meals takes time and energy that not everybody has. People who have multiple jobs in order to get by, non-professional caregivers (who are likely to have jobs in addition to taking care of whoever they need to take care of), and people with disabilities would all be negatively affected by raising the cost barrier to prepared food. Not only that, but the existence of food deserts means that people who live in lower-income areas will be more heavily taxed on food than people who don't.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7200230221784101604.post-55171023397117075072013-04-03T11:53:48.207-07:002013-04-03T11:53:48.207-07:00Tee hee... shall I tell you, or are you enjoying T...Tee hee... shall I tell you, or are you enjoying The Mystery?Cybelehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16010169619832803037noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7200230221784101604.post-52678449974049474892013-04-01T22:55:04.413-07:002013-04-01T22:55:04.413-07:00I want to know what the secret ingredient is... I ...I want to know what the secret ingredient is... I shall stalk you & find it out soon. :)Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15145703170196396206noreply@blogger.com